Arthur waited for Liliana to write a letter to him as he took small sips of his mother's tea. Occasionally he would also pop a bite of macaroon into his mouth. For a moment Arthur was reminded of the past, a time when he could only eat the macaroons cooked by his mother.
Ever since Arthur was little, Liliana had always made food for him with her own two hands. Because of this, Arthur was not used to having to eat food made by other people. This lasted until he studied abroad. There, Arthur finally had to start getting used to eating dishes that were not made by his mother.
Considering how close their relationship was in the past, Arthur couldn't believe that he had stayed away from Liliana for so long just because she didn't approve of his relationship with Eve. He seemed to have forgotten how much his mother meant to him.
The words that Eve said did not directly blame Liliana, it was even as if Eve tolerated the attitude shown by Liliana, but it made Arthur think that his mother continued to bully Eve without his knowledge. In fact, all of that was not true. Liliana never did what Eve accused her of. She also never once spoke harshly to Eve even though she didn't like the girl. In fact, Eve often tested Liliana's patience when Arthur wasn't with them.
Now Arthur knew how cunning Eve was. After realizing how stupid he had been for antagonizing his mother for no reason, Arthur longed to go back to being the little boy who cried and whined in Liliana's lap after being caught doing something wrong. He was eager to get forgiveness without having to get punished.
"Mr. Wang, sorry to keep you waiting so long." Liliana's voice interrupted Arthur's reverie about his mother.
Liliana appeared to have returned with a letter that she had stuffed into an envelope. She then sat down in front of Arthur and placed the envelope in front of him along with a box of food.
"Can you send this along with my letter?" asked Liliana to Arthur's father.
"What's this?" asked Arthur.
"It's a macaroon," said Liliana. "Ever since he was little, Arthur has loved eating macaroons. I deliberately made it less sweet because he told me that he doesn't like sweets now," said Liliana.
There was a sudden pang in Arthur's heart. He remembered refusing his mother's macaroons because Eve had told him it wasn't good to eat sweets often. She never really thought that Eve would intentionally create a gap between her and her mother.
"I'll send it along with your letter. I'm sure she will be very happy to receive it. She also misses her mother's homemade food very much." Arthur responded with a smile.
"Is it really like that?" asked Liliana in a soft tone. During the time Arthur had been away from her, she had often sent her son food supplies, but it was not uncommon to see Eve sharing them with others. She thought Arthur was reluctant to eat it. Liliana didn't know that Eve would often come up with a million excuses to keep Arthur from eating too much of his mother's food.
"Arthur told me this in his letter. He said that the food at his current place is good, but nothing is as good as his mother's cooking," Arthur said. He's actually making this up, but his words are honest. For Arthur, there is no food as good as Liliana's.
Liliana was moved again by Arthur's words. Her eyes looked teary again, but this time she didn't let the tears fall. She wiped them away before they became unstoppable.
"In that case, next time I make some food, can you send it to Arthur?" Liliana asked hopefully.
Arthur was slightly stunned at his mother's question.
"Ah, of course I'll make non-perishable food. Food that can last for days on end even if it's not refrigerated," Liliana added when she saw Arthur's hesitant expression. She didn't know that Arthur had that expression because he couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"Of course it can. As long as it's something that can be sent by package, I'll help send it to Arthur," Arthur said later.
"Thank you very much, Mr. Wang. I don't know what to say to you. Thank you," Liliana said, unable to mask her emotion.
"There's no need to thank you. Arthur is my best friend now. I'm just very happy to be able to help." Arthur responded while trying to hide his true feelings from Liliana's view.
"Mr. Wang, are you busy today?" Liliana asked.
"Not really. So what, ma'am?"
Liliana looked like she was about to say something, but hesitated.
"Just tell me, I'll help if I can," Arthur said.
"Would you like to have dinner here? I'll make a special dish for you as a thank you," Liliana asked.
Arthur was silent for a moment. He knew that not just anyone would be invited to eat by Liliana, let alone serve her homemade food. Only certain people who made a special impression usually got the offer. In fact, as Arthur recalled, even his father had never eaten his mother's cooking. Liliana would have the housekeeper make Jordan's meal if Jordan wanted to eat at home.
"Am I not inconveniencing Madame?" Arthur asked later.
"Of course not," Liliana replied.
"Very well." Arthur finally nodded. He couldn't resist because he saw the hopeful look in Liliana's eyes. In fact, he had a little business to attend to after this.
"Thank you for accepting my sudden invitation," Liliana said with a grin.
"But, Madam, in exchange, you must allow me to disturb you. I will help you with the cooking. How about it?" asked Arthur.
Liliana seemed to think for a moment.
"If you are so eager to help, how about you help me catch the turkey and cut it up?" asked Liliana.
"I'll make a roast turkey for dinner tonight," Liliana added.
Arthur's eyes lit up. It had been a very long time since he had eaten his mother's roast turkey, which had a very special flavor. Of course he would not miss this opportunity, even if this time he had to enjoy the food as Arthur Wang.
"Where's the turkey? Let me catch it and cut it up for you?" Arthur later asked Liliana. Of course, he actually knew that Liliana kept several turkeys in her backyard. But he had to pretend he didn't know, so Liliana wouldn't feel suspicious of him.
"Come on, follow me," Liliana said, beckoning Arthur to follow her.
Arthur got up and followed Liliana to the backyard. There was a large cattle pen containing several large turkeys.
"Catch the biggest one if you can," Liliana half-joked.
Arthur said yes as he watched his mother's birds one by one. He had helped Liliana catch turkeys in the past, so he already knew how to do it.
"Put this on first," Liliasna asked as she handed Arthur an apron. Arthur accepted and put it on immediately.
Without waiting any longer, Arthur went straight into the turkey pen and approached the biggest turkey. Using a trick that Liliana had taught him, Arthur managed to catch the bird without too much drama.
"Huh, got it? So fast?" Liliana, who had just returned from the kitchen, looked a little stunned to see Arthur who had managed to catch a turkey that was trying to rebel.
"I used to catch turkeys a few times," Arthur said.
"Oh." Liliana just nodded her head. She thought she was about to witness a chase drama between Arthur and the turkey, or vice versa. Surprisingly, that drama did not happen.
"Well, let's cut it up and clean the feathers first," Liliana said.
"Leave it to me, ma'am. I'm good at it. You just prepare the spices for the roast," Arthur said.
"You really don't need help?" asked Liliana incredulously.
"Yes, I'll leave it to you once it's ready to cook," Arthur said.
"Alright," muttered Liliana after being stunned for a few moments. She placed the tools to cut up the turkey near Arthur, and then headed towards the kitchen. Still feeling a little unsure, she decided to let Arthur take care of the turkey on his own.